Point - course notes
A point has to be small within the frame and its position is generally more important that its form.
A point should be small in relationship to the frame, if it is too large it becomes a shape.
A point attracts attention out of proportion to its size.
The eye looks for connects between two points
Placing a point close to the edge seems to animate both the point and the frame.
Picture Composition by Peter Ward 2002, Taylor and Francis Group
One of the aims of good composition is to find and emphasise structural patters that the mind/eye can easily grasp.
All of the visual ingredients cannot be used in the same shot.
Should all shots be aesthetically pleasing? Should slum shots be beautifully composed.
Composition involves drawing attention to the main subject and then making it meaningful.
One of the more obvious mistakes is not to see the whole picture but only that part which has initially attracted interest.
Key questions
What is the purpose of the shot?
Is the shot fact or feeling?
In what context will the shot be seen?
What will be the most important visual element in the shot?
Showing the audience where to look is a significant part of framing a shot. This can be achieved by:
Grouping and organisation
Similarity by proximity
Similarity by size
Similarity by closure
Similarity of colour
Visual weight
A useful characteristic when setting up a shot is the perceptual tendency to group and organise items together.
Balance in a composition is distributing the visual elements across the frame so that a state of equilibrium is achieved for the whole.
A composition with divided interest, where the eye flicks back and forth between two equal subjects is a composition that will cause the audience a problem of deciding what they should be looking at. One subject must be made subservient to the other by placement, size, focus, colour or contrast.
Images are habitually scanned from left to right, the normal reading process. Strong left side, weak right side.
Figure describes the shape that is immediately observable whilst ground defines that shape by giving it a context in which to exist.
Figure is usually smaller in area than ground and figure/ground cannot be seen simultaneously. They are viewed sequentially. Figure is seen as having form, contour or shape, whilst ground is seen as having none of these characteristics.
Any visual element in the frame that stands out and achieves prominence will be considered by the observer as figure even if this object has been assessed of no visual importance by the photographer.
Many snap shots fail because the attention, when the photograph was taken, was wholly concentrated on one element of the field of view usually because it had strong personal significance, however it fails to hold the attention of the wider audience.
Lines
Avoid lines that divide the frame into equal parts and dominant lines at the end of the frame that may alter the aspect ration and appear as if the image was cropped.
A point has to be small within the frame and its position is generally more important that its form.
A point should be small in relationship to the frame, if it is too large it becomes a shape.
A point attracts attention out of proportion to its size.
The eye looks for connects between two points
Placing a point close to the edge seems to animate both the point and the frame.
Picture Composition by Peter Ward 2002, Taylor and Francis Group
One of the aims of good composition is to find and emphasise structural patters that the mind/eye can easily grasp.
All of the visual ingredients cannot be used in the same shot.
Should all shots be aesthetically pleasing? Should slum shots be beautifully composed.
Composition involves drawing attention to the main subject and then making it meaningful.
One of the more obvious mistakes is not to see the whole picture but only that part which has initially attracted interest.
Key questions
What is the purpose of the shot?
Is the shot fact or feeling?
In what context will the shot be seen?
What will be the most important visual element in the shot?
Showing the audience where to look is a significant part of framing a shot. This can be achieved by:
Grouping and organisation
Similarity by proximity
Similarity by size
Similarity by closure
Similarity of colour
Visual weight
A useful characteristic when setting up a shot is the perceptual tendency to group and organise items together.
Balance in a composition is distributing the visual elements across the frame so that a state of equilibrium is achieved for the whole.
A composition with divided interest, where the eye flicks back and forth between two equal subjects is a composition that will cause the audience a problem of deciding what they should be looking at. One subject must be made subservient to the other by placement, size, focus, colour or contrast.
Images are habitually scanned from left to right, the normal reading process. Strong left side, weak right side.
Figure describes the shape that is immediately observable whilst ground defines that shape by giving it a context in which to exist.
Figure is usually smaller in area than ground and figure/ground cannot be seen simultaneously. They are viewed sequentially. Figure is seen as having form, contour or shape, whilst ground is seen as having none of these characteristics.
Any visual element in the frame that stands out and achieves prominence will be considered by the observer as figure even if this object has been assessed of no visual importance by the photographer.
Many snap shots fail because the attention, when the photograph was taken, was wholly concentrated on one element of the field of view usually because it had strong personal significance, however it fails to hold the attention of the wider audience.
Lines
Avoid lines that divide the frame into equal parts and dominant lines at the end of the frame that may alter the aspect ration and appear as if the image was cropped.